A Preliminary Investigation into the Environmental Awareness of the Omani Public and their Willingness to Protect the Environment

Abstract

This study was conducted with the objective of evaluating the present status of environmental awareness of Omani citizens and their willingness to contribute to environmental protection. The focus of the study was to investigate the Omani public’s level of knowledge about general basic and current local and international environmental issues and to find out their environmental attitudes and behaviors towards their environment. This information was gathered through a survey questionnaire with its structure constructed for this purpose. The survey questionnaire consisted of various current topics regarding the environment. It was primarily designed to assess the level of residents’ environmental awareness from three aspects: environmental knowledge, environmental attitudes, and environmental behaviors. This questionnaire was administered to 425 respondents who were evenly distributed among all areas of the entire Muscat governorate in Oman during January 2007. The results of the survey showed that the basic environmental knowledge of the public was generally lacking, whereas their local and international environmental knowledge were found to be higher. In contrast, the study found that the public had a higher level of environmental attitudes and behaviors, but also noted that the public achieved a higher score in their environmental attitudes than in their environmental behaviors. The results of the survey and recommendations of the study are hoped to be used in the evaluation of the effectiveness of the current public awareness strategies and programmes and in the design future programmes by government authorities and civil service groups.